Fencer's Plot Bunnies
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Thank you! I really wanted to show that connection beyond just saying it exists.
Magical Girl Taylor 2
New
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
AN: these snippets need a name… anyone have any thoughts because honestly I'm pulling a blank on this one.
In the end I didn't go out that night. There had just been too much to digest. Too much information to chew over. The world wasn't quite broken but it certainly wasn't in good shape. And while broken triggers paled in comparison to Endbringers they were the new nightmare of the world. Shadows of their bigger meaner cousins, but more common and random.
The morning news made it seem like that was all for the better. Lung had thrashed a little known team of villains and started a fire that burned down three businesses and an apartment building. They weren't even sure how many people died yet.
I had a vague idea that I had genuinely won the grab bag lottery. Queen Administrator was very proud of what she called the basic package and of her personal contribution meant to set me apart. With some practice and experience I could easily become the bane of street gangs.
But being a grab bag makes me something like a generalist. Good in lot's of situations and roles but not the best in any of them. By comparison Lung is an almost Triumvirate tier specialist if the specialty is overwhelming power and durability. If I got to him early and hit him hard enough there was a chance of ending the fight, though I had no way of guessing how big a chance. If he had time to ramp up? Not just a little but a lot?
Maybe I could kill him if I managed a direct shot to the brain with my so called finishing move. Maybe, but I hadn't tested any of my attacks yet, and I certainly didn't want to test my strongest attack in a kill or die scenario against Lung. That's how stupid inexperienced capes end up extra dead. And while I might think of killing a notorious gang leader as a public service… the Protectorate probably wouldn't.
So, I missed that cluster fuck and was happier for it.
Problem, it's now two PM on a Saturday and Dad is staring at Queen Administrators avatar as she outs me, while declaring an emergency.
Dad stood in the doorway open mouthed and shocked. I sat at the dining room table working through some homework I didn't care about, and appearing out of literal thin air on the table in front of me, was my seven inch high purple owl avatar of the source of my powers.
"Alert." Queen Administrators' flat monotone voice filled the room. "Broken trigger event in progress in Brockton Bay."
"What the hell?" Dad muttered.
"I couldn't even have one day?" I asked no one in particular. "I don't even have a name!"
"What?!" Dad's focus snapped back around to me.
"Name unnecessary." Queen Administrator declared flatly.
"It is if I want to avoid being named by random idiots on the internet!" I shot back as I very carefully avoided looking at Dad. Then I shook my head and refocused, broken triggers could lead to a lot of deaths
"Taylor?!" Dad turned my name into a demand for information.
"I'm a cape, I make gems that give people powers. They all take a month to make for some reason and the first two I refused to use because the embarrassment would have killed me." I snapped at Dad before turning back to Queen Administrator. "Is anyone dying? Do we need to hurry?"
The owl tilted its head which rather than being endearing or cute came off as robotic and creepy.
"Unknown. Only magical girl hosts are under direct observation by coexistence faction shards. Direct observation of Earth in its entirety would not be a worthwhile expenditure of energy. Broken triggers have a distinct feel which can be tracked assuming the subject does not die outright during their trigger event."
Which is a frankly horrifying level of nonchalance when talking about someone going through an emotional crisis suffering sudden violent death due to living alien supercomputers being stupid. Never mind the fact these could easily lead to a lot of unintended collateral damage and death for anyone unlucky enough to be nearby.
I was not at all ready. I hadn't even gone for a flight around the bay yet. I hadn't practiced with my weapons, or tried my unique ability, or even picked out a name! Though that last one was partly my fault. I'd had three months to think about this, but magical girl names are all either just Japanese names or incredibly cheesy.
I vaguely knew what persona I wanted to project though that was mostly down to eliminating the ones I wouldn't ever be able to keep up…
Then again wasn't it on brand to throw a magical girl straight into the deep end? Or was it? Despite all my research it's not like I watched a ton of them or anything. I couldn't find a site I trusted to pirate them from without worrying about bricking the computer.
Shaking my head I looked at the impassive face of Queen Administrator, then to Dad who frankly looked entirely lost. Which was fair, but not remotely helpful. Really though, this had always been the goal, the point, the light at the end of the tunnel I had been racing towards from the minute I realized what I was making.
I wanted to save people. I wanted to bring some light into this fucked up world of broken hopes and dreams. Because if I could do that for someone else… maybe there would be hope for me too. Hope that things would get better. That I could escape the trio. That Dad and I could salvage some kind of relationship instead of just continuing on like we had been since Mom died. That the gangs could be pushed back and the heroes could eventually win the day and usher in a better era than the one I'd grown up in.
And while I wasn't sold on everything about my obligatory theme, that much at least resonated. Fighting for a better tomorrow seemed like half the point of those ridiculous shows.
So, if I had to go out there in a skintight outfit and miniskirt? I was going to damn well own it so that hopefully some kid would look at me on the news the way I used to look at Alexandria.
I deserved so much better than what life had given me. And if I had to change the world to make sure that no other little girl had her life destroyed the way mine had been then that was exactly what I would do. Starting right here and now with someone who needed help only I could provide.
I reached up with my right hand until it rested over the gem fused to my chest.
"Queen Administrator, it's time to spread my wings!"
There was a flash of bright purple light. Dad cried out in shock and I started walking already knowing I was back in my magical girl outfit.
"Do I need anything? One of the gems?" I asked.
"Negative." Queen Administrator answered flying alongside me at speeds that would have seen a real bird dropping like a stone. "This process will be similar but distinct. You will form a new gem on site, it will form very quickly, but will only be enough to make the initial connection. It will likely take a full month or longer for the malfunctioning shard to be processed and properly format the new hosts abilities. While we are becoming more familiar with the process, each gem is unique and granting proper access to so many varied abilities is… finicky."
Well, fair enough. At least whoever this was wouldn't be able to yell at me for sticking them in a pink and cream abomination of an outfit. Hopefully. The shards might just default back to that given their obvious lack of imagination.
"Taylor?!" Dad finally shook off his shock and followed after me as I marched towards the back door.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I meant to talk to you about all this, honest." Though not this soon. Certainly not until I had a chance to fly over the city. "But there is someone out there that needs help, and if the owl's to be believed I'm the only one who can." Mask on, time to play my role. I looked over my shoulder and smiled as warmly as I could, because I'm the magical girl here to save the day. "I have to help them, but I promise, we'll talk about everything when I get back."
My persona cracked at the thought and my smile became sheepish.
"I should warn you. It's a lot. I didn't even know the half of it until yesterday but uhhh, honesty, truth, love and justice! Or something? God, how does Mouse Protector do this? Is she really that cheesy and peppy all the time?"
Stepping out of the house I felt the "magic" circles floating along my back flared as my wings burst into existence. Dad yelped again. I didn't wait. I just flexed my will and the wings beat down and I rocketed into the air.
Right magical girl persona. If I tried to act peppy or anything like that I'd crack in a heartbeat. The best I could possibly manage is, polite professional who is obviously a little awkward. I'd have to fake confidence, and sit on any anger until it came out cold and controlled. It would be an adjustment, but hopefully one I could manage.
And why shouldn't I be confident? My power was absurd. I'm the mythical grab bag who stole the bag. Though I absolutely lacked experience…
No! Damn it all, confidence, competence, and politeness! I wasn't out to fight anyone right now. I was saving someone only I could help and that's it. No reason to be nervous! The physical mask is on so I just need to stop freaking out and put on the metaphorical one too!
Taking a deep breath, I let the mask I'd been practicing seep to the front of my mind. Mom had talked about method actors when she'd gotten onto the topic of plays more than once. This just needed to be like that. I was going to live this role, breathe life into it and make it my own.
Settled, I finally took a moment to appreciate the fact that I was flying! The air whipped past my face as I followed closely behind Queen Administrator's projected owl. This, more than anything else, had made waiting on a costume I didn't hate nearly impossible. There were so many moments where I nearly capitulated to the yellow and black midriff baring jacket and boy shorts just so I could take to the sky.
Smiling I pushed up and to the right and moved into a full roll. My stomach lurched and adrenaline spiked through my veins in a small burst. Once everything was sorted out with the broken trigger, and Dad, I was going to fly out over the bay and really push myself in the air until I knew all my limits and had to fight to catch my breath.
But there wasn't time for that now apparently because Queen Administrator was already descending.
Following her down I came to a sudden reeling stop as several buildings seemed to vanish from existence, then as I moved closer everything faded out.
"Mental effect detected." A voice I should recognize but didn't said in an impersonal flat tone. "Activating mental defenses. Calibrating. Mental defenses are now active."
Reality rushed back and I sucked in a deep breath before letting out a full blown screech and scrambling to regain altitude before I hit the ground. Had I started falling when whatever that was hit me?
"What was that?!" I demanded.
"Mental effect afflicting radius around broken trigger." Queen Administrator answered. "Effect at outer edges makes things close to the center imperceptible. Closer to the center point the mind fails to remember anything but involuntary movements such as heartbeat and breathing. Power wildly out of control. Highly likely the host in question is also afflicted… High probability those on the edge of the effect radius have placed calls about vanishing city infrastructure and residents as they lose the ability to perceive them. Recommend resolving the situation as quickly as possible."
Glancing down I could see at least three car accidents. Fuck this is bad. Part of me wanted to rush to help with those but the broken trigger caused this. If it isn't stopped the problems would just pile up. That had to come first. Then I could rush around pulling people out of wrecks… and not much else. First aid. I needed to find a first aid class, soon.
Later, focus!
Queen Administrator just sort of ghosted through a window because apparently, she didn't have to be solid. I spent about ten seconds staring at the glass then threw my hands up and pulled out one of my knives. The purple energy blade that extended past the physical blade carved through the glass like it was paper. Slipping through I found myself in a filthy apartment staring at a black woman who very clearly just snorted a line of cocaine, a nondescript if grungy white man with a backpack, a dealer? And a pretty black girl who had to be at least two years younger than me that puberty had also very clearly decided to treat better than me already.
Though that was a little harder to notice given the fact that her body was changing before my eyes. Already she had a tail covered in black scales, the shape reminded me of a short haired cat. She had an irregular crown of horns growing out of her head, and what looked like the start of tusks and claws.
I did not like the fact that the very young teen was in a corner and the dealer was closer to her than the woman who is obviously the teen's mother. It's not proof of anything. But I didn't give up my dignity to go out in a magical girl outfit to be constrained by something like absolute proof. If he woke up angry, I was going to shoot him in the dick. But again later.
Reaching the girls side I cupped my hands in front of my chest and started to gather my power there. All the previous gems started out as a grain of collared sand then expanded with time and effort. This one started out clear, like glass, it also grew at a blistering pace compared to the three I'd made before. In three minutes I had a pear cut gem the size of the others in my hand.
With a muttered apology to the unconscious girl, I pulled her shirt away enough to push the gem into her sternum, and then she screamed.
"Fuck!" Quick as I could I pressed her shoulders down into the filthy carpet to stop her thrashing while she screamed and screamed and screamed.
"You're all right. Just hang in there. Almost done. Almost done. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There isn't a better way, I'm sorry." I rambled because I didn't know what else to do.
And finally, mercifully, a minute later she stopped screaming. I looked up to find Queen Administrator standing on the floor nearby.
"Is that it? Will she be alright?" I asked.
"Affirmative. Procedure complete. We will attempt to restore her physical body to its baseline. Then proceed with assimilation of her partnered shard. Base ability is interesting and may be retained after adjustments to make it viable depending on power requirements."
"Ok, ok that's good." Probably. I didn't really care about things on the shard end right now. But the fact they were going to try and get her physically back to normal sounded like a good start.
"Who the hell are you?!" The probably a drug dealer shouted, making me jump. Turning to look, he was back on his feet and waving a knife.
I opened my mouth, closed it, thought about my answer, and sighed.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a magical girl." I waved him off. "Pretty sure I should throw you to the police, but I'll give you one chance to leave."
"What the fuck?" He gaped. "Screw you!"
In the time it took for him to push off into a lunge from his absolutely terrible stance, how the heck do I know his stance is terrible?!, I drew a gun and aimed.
"Impact!" I shouted. The gem in my chest chimed. There wasn't a trigger, the guns were really only a prop for this and pulling a trigger and recoil could foul my aim. The gun fired when I wanted it to. When it was aimed at my target.
The first blur of purple light hit him between his legs, even a promise to myself was a promise worth keeping! The second hit him in the gut, the third in the chest and the last one took him square in the nose breaking it and knocking him backwards head over heels.
He decided to just lay there groaning in pain.
… I really should not be that good with a weapon I'd never used before. Also, pretty sure a competitive quick draw would have been green with envy over what I just pulled in terms of speed and accuracy. Just how much had been baked into the so called basic package?
"Right… definitely not safe to just leave you here like this." I was speaking as much to the girl as I was to myself. Lifting her in a bridal carry was as easy as slipping on a full backpack.
Add enhanced strength to the list, though definitely not in the fist fight Alexandria range.
I kept the girl with me for lack of any better options as I made my way back out to the street where once again my complete lack of first aid or rescue training of any kind made me feel like a complete idiot.
"Queen Administrator, do you have a way to call the PRT?"
The owl who had been floating along silently landed on my shoulder before answering.
"Negative. Human radio and cellular data transmissions are more than adequate for general communication purposes. Expenditure of shard energy to replicate functions of mass produced technology deemed unnecessary."
"I don't have a cellphone, or radio." I stated carefully. Telling the thing that could destroy the world that it is wrong seemed like a bad idea and it was a reasonable decision from her point of view.
"This is an oversight on Hosts part. Recommend you acquire a communication device before going out again." The owl answered flatly.
I closed my eyes, counted to ten, and decided it wasn't worth arguing about this. It really was reasonable given just how many tricks were worked into my powers already.
Everyone on the street was giving me a wide berth and I couldn't just leave the poor girl, and flying off with her even to bring her to the hospital or PRT would probably be taken poorly…
Sighing I plopped myself down on a stoop and settled the girl so she would be leaning on my shoulder. Waiting was probably the best choice right now.
Five minutes later when a red blur raced in front of me and dropped a can that exploded into yellow grey foam sticking my feet together. Only for the blur to reappear about ten feet in front of me to reveal Velocity. All I could do was sigh and reach up to pinch the bridge of my nose.
Of course the mask got in the way of that. And honestly, I wasn't even that upset because apparently my forcefield kept this crap from bonding to my skin or costume though there was enough of it, and the field wasn't that far from my skin, so my feet were in fact bound together. Of course it wasn't just me caught in this goop.
"You know if you actually think I'm a villain, binding my feet with a random girl's seems like a really poor choice." I voiced the obvious.
Velocity flushed red. But I wasn't done, polite and professional is not going to be another way to say doormat. Just have to keep my tone calm and level.
"Also, I can fly." I continued. "I could just fly away bound feet or not if…" pulling up the containment foam broke off from the concrete with minimal resistance, "yeah, stuff's not exactly glue just takes away leverage. And since you connected me to her," I pointed at the girl I'd come here to help, "if I chose to fly off like this, I'd be taking her with me."
His shoulders hunched like a scolded child.
"Seriously, I'm just sitting here being used as a pillow by this poor thing who's had a truly horrible day, and your first thought was to restrain me without even asking any questions. I'm actually offended. Not really surprised, but offended." I continued because quite frankly even if I want to cling to the whole quiet professional mask this really was a terrible first impression and I was very reasonably angry about it.
"Ok, I admit this really isn't the best introduction, but we got multiple calls about vanishing buildings and cars then ten minutes later everything is back and you show up carrying around a girl who looks like she got on the wrong end of a biotinker." He shrugged. "I don't know what's going on, but honestly this looks really bad. And nonviolent containment is a pretty measured response after a major incident."
I took a deep breath and bit down on my first few responses. I needed to be my mask.
"I flew here because I got an early warning. I wasn't even planning to go out for more than a test flight and maybe a chance to test these," I gestured at my holstered guns, "on the boat graveyard, not after the news talking up what happened last night. If I promise not to go anywhere and answer your questions, will you allow me to cut this off of my feet? I really hate being confined or restrained." This wasn't really that bad, but it was setting me on edge which I did not need when trying to make a good impression.
Velocity opened his mouth but I'd never know what he intended to say because that's when the noise of a motorcycle being pushed hard started to grow rapidly. Not twenty seconds later Armsmaster whipped around a corner going a lot faster than the speed limit. Very quickly he braked hard to come to a stop close to Velocity.
"Unknown Parahuman. You are under arrest for suspected use of a large scale master or stranger effect and assault with a biotinker power, surrender immediately." Armsmaster snapped out while dismounting his bike and brandishing his halberd.
Velocity looked at him like he was stupid. I took a moment to stare at him like I was seeing a new species of idiot then slapped a hand to my face.
I very pointedly ignored Armsmaster and turned back to Velocity.
"I take back what I said." I offered seriously. "I'll leave the foam alone if you tell him to go away and promise to actually talk to me like a person instead of just assuming I'm a criminal without evidence." I'd gladly leave my feet bound if it meant I didn't need to deal with whatever the hell this was.
Velocity poorly covered a laugh with a cough.
Armsmaster scowled, probably glared, but with the visor I couldn't see his eyes.
I held up a hand took one more deep breath and tried again.
"I apologize, that was rude of me, but I've had a rough couple of days and this," I gestured at my foamed legs and Armsmaster "has been a very poor response to someone sitting by the side of the road waiting for you to arrive."
Never mind the year and a half leading up to this point. Last night was a trainwreck and this should have been my triumphant first showing, but between the nature of the girl's power and whatever the hell this blame game nonsense was, I was finding it very difficult to cling to my role. Seriously how the hell does Mouse Protector go around being so cheesy all the time.
"Furthermore, the only reason I am sitting here is that I have no idea how to safely assist with the handful of car accident victims in the area without potentially making things worse. You are not untrained teenagers and should be helping them!"
Cold, have to keep the anger cold. Stay in character and get these idiots moving.
Velocity waved his hands in denial.
"Ok, ok I get how this must look bad from your perspective." The speedster said. "But you have to understand, this is ground zero for a major incident, and no one knows anything about you. EMS is being held back until we can confirm the area is safe, and that means we need to get a handle on you before they can help anyone."
Which made sense. It was dumb. But the kind of dumb that probably kept people alive in different circumstances.
"Fine. So long as it gets these people the help they need faster. I'm willing to cooperate." I would not be responsible for someone losing family to a car accident. "Now can I cut this crap so we can get moving or are you going to continue to be unreasonable."
Armsaster was still scowling but at least he wasn't pointing a weapon at me anymore.
"Lay your weapons on the ground." The dick in power armor demanded. "You will be cuffed for transport. Use of your powers will be considered hostile action and I will respond with force." Aaand then he started reading me my rights.
Thoroughly done with this shit, but not willing to delay medical help for the injured I slowly pulled out my guns and knives and tossed them on the ground. All while staring flatly at the pair of heroes.
"By all means. Be my guest." I offered, gesturing to my weapons.
Now they stared at them like they were live grenades.
"Oh for the love of, return." I snapped and at that order my weapons were back in their places strapped to my costume.
"I am trying to be cooperative here because the victims are more important than whatever this idiocy is about." I said fighting not to raise my voice. "But you are testing the limits of my patience and seconds could matter here. If breaking out of this foam and flying away will get the ambulances here faster I will do so. Stop wasting time!"
Velocity put a finger to his ear.
"Console we've got the suspected cape and she is cooperating, but has also made it clear that will stop if we don't start helping the victims. Give EMS the all clear and send us the wagon. And maybe get something organized to sweep the affected buildings. There could be other accidents like falling down stairs or someone getting knocked out while cooking. We need to start checking on people."
Armsmaster ground his teeth, but didn't contradict Velocity.
I nodded, crossed my arms and settled into my role to keep from cursing up a storm or panicking at yet another example of people in charge trying to fuck me over. I'd done nothing wrong and they certainly didn't have the proof to pin anything on me. And if they tried to blame me anyway? I was going to blast my way out of the rig and then sink it to the bottom of the bay because at some point all there was left to do is say enough.
In the end I didn't go out that night. There had just been too much to digest. Too much information to chew over. The world wasn't quite broken but it certainly wasn't in good shape. And while broken triggers paled in comparison to Endbringers they were the new nightmare of the world. Shadows of their bigger meaner cousins, but more common and random.
The morning news made it seem like that was all for the better. Lung had thrashed a little known team of villains and started a fire that burned down three businesses and an apartment building. They weren't even sure how many people died yet.
I had a vague idea that I had genuinely won the grab bag lottery. Queen Administrator was very proud of what she called the basic package and of her personal contribution meant to set me apart. With some practice and experience I could easily become the bane of street gangs.
But being a grab bag makes me something like a generalist. Good in lot's of situations and roles but not the best in any of them. By comparison Lung is an almost Triumvirate tier specialist if the specialty is overwhelming power and durability. If I got to him early and hit him hard enough there was a chance of ending the fight, though I had no way of guessing how big a chance. If he had time to ramp up? Not just a little but a lot?
Maybe I could kill him if I managed a direct shot to the brain with my so called finishing move. Maybe, but I hadn't tested any of my attacks yet, and I certainly didn't want to test my strongest attack in a kill or die scenario against Lung. That's how stupid inexperienced capes end up extra dead. And while I might think of killing a notorious gang leader as a public service… the Protectorate probably wouldn't.
So, I missed that cluster fuck and was happier for it.
Problem, it's now two PM on a Saturday and Dad is staring at Queen Administrators avatar as she outs me, while declaring an emergency.
Dad stood in the doorway open mouthed and shocked. I sat at the dining room table working through some homework I didn't care about, and appearing out of literal thin air on the table in front of me, was my seven inch high purple owl avatar of the source of my powers.
"Alert." Queen Administrators' flat monotone voice filled the room. "Broken trigger event in progress in Brockton Bay."
"What the hell?" Dad muttered.
"I couldn't even have one day?" I asked no one in particular. "I don't even have a name!"
"What?!" Dad's focus snapped back around to me.
"Name unnecessary." Queen Administrator declared flatly.
"It is if I want to avoid being named by random idiots on the internet!" I shot back as I very carefully avoided looking at Dad. Then I shook my head and refocused, broken triggers could lead to a lot of deaths
"Taylor?!" Dad turned my name into a demand for information.
"I'm a cape, I make gems that give people powers. They all take a month to make for some reason and the first two I refused to use because the embarrassment would have killed me." I snapped at Dad before turning back to Queen Administrator. "Is anyone dying? Do we need to hurry?"
The owl tilted its head which rather than being endearing or cute came off as robotic and creepy.
"Unknown. Only magical girl hosts are under direct observation by coexistence faction shards. Direct observation of Earth in its entirety would not be a worthwhile expenditure of energy. Broken triggers have a distinct feel which can be tracked assuming the subject does not die outright during their trigger event."
Which is a frankly horrifying level of nonchalance when talking about someone going through an emotional crisis suffering sudden violent death due to living alien supercomputers being stupid. Never mind the fact these could easily lead to a lot of unintended collateral damage and death for anyone unlucky enough to be nearby.
I was not at all ready. I hadn't even gone for a flight around the bay yet. I hadn't practiced with my weapons, or tried my unique ability, or even picked out a name! Though that last one was partly my fault. I'd had three months to think about this, but magical girl names are all either just Japanese names or incredibly cheesy.
I vaguely knew what persona I wanted to project though that was mostly down to eliminating the ones I wouldn't ever be able to keep up…
Then again wasn't it on brand to throw a magical girl straight into the deep end? Or was it? Despite all my research it's not like I watched a ton of them or anything. I couldn't find a site I trusted to pirate them from without worrying about bricking the computer.
Shaking my head I looked at the impassive face of Queen Administrator, then to Dad who frankly looked entirely lost. Which was fair, but not remotely helpful. Really though, this had always been the goal, the point, the light at the end of the tunnel I had been racing towards from the minute I realized what I was making.
I wanted to save people. I wanted to bring some light into this fucked up world of broken hopes and dreams. Because if I could do that for someone else… maybe there would be hope for me too. Hope that things would get better. That I could escape the trio. That Dad and I could salvage some kind of relationship instead of just continuing on like we had been since Mom died. That the gangs could be pushed back and the heroes could eventually win the day and usher in a better era than the one I'd grown up in.
And while I wasn't sold on everything about my obligatory theme, that much at least resonated. Fighting for a better tomorrow seemed like half the point of those ridiculous shows.
So, if I had to go out there in a skintight outfit and miniskirt? I was going to damn well own it so that hopefully some kid would look at me on the news the way I used to look at Alexandria.
I deserved so much better than what life had given me. And if I had to change the world to make sure that no other little girl had her life destroyed the way mine had been then that was exactly what I would do. Starting right here and now with someone who needed help only I could provide.
I reached up with my right hand until it rested over the gem fused to my chest.
"Queen Administrator, it's time to spread my wings!"
There was a flash of bright purple light. Dad cried out in shock and I started walking already knowing I was back in my magical girl outfit.
"Do I need anything? One of the gems?" I asked.
"Negative." Queen Administrator answered flying alongside me at speeds that would have seen a real bird dropping like a stone. "This process will be similar but distinct. You will form a new gem on site, it will form very quickly, but will only be enough to make the initial connection. It will likely take a full month or longer for the malfunctioning shard to be processed and properly format the new hosts abilities. While we are becoming more familiar with the process, each gem is unique and granting proper access to so many varied abilities is… finicky."
Well, fair enough. At least whoever this was wouldn't be able to yell at me for sticking them in a pink and cream abomination of an outfit. Hopefully. The shards might just default back to that given their obvious lack of imagination.
"Taylor?!" Dad finally shook off his shock and followed after me as I marched towards the back door.
"I'm sorry, Dad. I meant to talk to you about all this, honest." Though not this soon. Certainly not until I had a chance to fly over the city. "But there is someone out there that needs help, and if the owl's to be believed I'm the only one who can." Mask on, time to play my role. I looked over my shoulder and smiled as warmly as I could, because I'm the magical girl here to save the day. "I have to help them, but I promise, we'll talk about everything when I get back."
My persona cracked at the thought and my smile became sheepish.
"I should warn you. It's a lot. I didn't even know the half of it until yesterday but uhhh, honesty, truth, love and justice! Or something? God, how does Mouse Protector do this? Is she really that cheesy and peppy all the time?"
Stepping out of the house I felt the "magic" circles floating along my back flared as my wings burst into existence. Dad yelped again. I didn't wait. I just flexed my will and the wings beat down and I rocketed into the air.
Right magical girl persona. If I tried to act peppy or anything like that I'd crack in a heartbeat. The best I could possibly manage is, polite professional who is obviously a little awkward. I'd have to fake confidence, and sit on any anger until it came out cold and controlled. It would be an adjustment, but hopefully one I could manage.
And why shouldn't I be confident? My power was absurd. I'm the mythical grab bag who stole the bag. Though I absolutely lacked experience…
No! Damn it all, confidence, competence, and politeness! I wasn't out to fight anyone right now. I was saving someone only I could help and that's it. No reason to be nervous! The physical mask is on so I just need to stop freaking out and put on the metaphorical one too!
Taking a deep breath, I let the mask I'd been practicing seep to the front of my mind. Mom had talked about method actors when she'd gotten onto the topic of plays more than once. This just needed to be like that. I was going to live this role, breathe life into it and make it my own.
Settled, I finally took a moment to appreciate the fact that I was flying! The air whipped past my face as I followed closely behind Queen Administrator's projected owl. This, more than anything else, had made waiting on a costume I didn't hate nearly impossible. There were so many moments where I nearly capitulated to the yellow and black midriff baring jacket and boy shorts just so I could take to the sky.
Smiling I pushed up and to the right and moved into a full roll. My stomach lurched and adrenaline spiked through my veins in a small burst. Once everything was sorted out with the broken trigger, and Dad, I was going to fly out over the bay and really push myself in the air until I knew all my limits and had to fight to catch my breath.
But there wasn't time for that now apparently because Queen Administrator was already descending.
Following her down I came to a sudden reeling stop as several buildings seemed to vanish from existence, then as I moved closer everything faded out.
"Mental effect detected." A voice I should recognize but didn't said in an impersonal flat tone. "Activating mental defenses. Calibrating. Mental defenses are now active."
Reality rushed back and I sucked in a deep breath before letting out a full blown screech and scrambling to regain altitude before I hit the ground. Had I started falling when whatever that was hit me?
"What was that?!" I demanded.
"Mental effect afflicting radius around broken trigger." Queen Administrator answered. "Effect at outer edges makes things close to the center imperceptible. Closer to the center point the mind fails to remember anything but involuntary movements such as heartbeat and breathing. Power wildly out of control. Highly likely the host in question is also afflicted… High probability those on the edge of the effect radius have placed calls about vanishing city infrastructure and residents as they lose the ability to perceive them. Recommend resolving the situation as quickly as possible."
Glancing down I could see at least three car accidents. Fuck this is bad. Part of me wanted to rush to help with those but the broken trigger caused this. If it isn't stopped the problems would just pile up. That had to come first. Then I could rush around pulling people out of wrecks… and not much else. First aid. I needed to find a first aid class, soon.
Later, focus!
Queen Administrator just sort of ghosted through a window because apparently, she didn't have to be solid. I spent about ten seconds staring at the glass then threw my hands up and pulled out one of my knives. The purple energy blade that extended past the physical blade carved through the glass like it was paper. Slipping through I found myself in a filthy apartment staring at a black woman who very clearly just snorted a line of cocaine, a nondescript if grungy white man with a backpack, a dealer? And a pretty black girl who had to be at least two years younger than me that puberty had also very clearly decided to treat better than me already.
Though that was a little harder to notice given the fact that her body was changing before my eyes. Already she had a tail covered in black scales, the shape reminded me of a short haired cat. She had an irregular crown of horns growing out of her head, and what looked like the start of tusks and claws.
I did not like the fact that the very young teen was in a corner and the dealer was closer to her than the woman who is obviously the teen's mother. It's not proof of anything. But I didn't give up my dignity to go out in a magical girl outfit to be constrained by something like absolute proof. If he woke up angry, I was going to shoot him in the dick. But again later.
Reaching the girls side I cupped my hands in front of my chest and started to gather my power there. All the previous gems started out as a grain of collared sand then expanded with time and effort. This one started out clear, like glass, it also grew at a blistering pace compared to the three I'd made before. In three minutes I had a pear cut gem the size of the others in my hand.
With a muttered apology to the unconscious girl, I pulled her shirt away enough to push the gem into her sternum, and then she screamed.
"Fuck!" Quick as I could I pressed her shoulders down into the filthy carpet to stop her thrashing while she screamed and screamed and screamed.
"You're all right. Just hang in there. Almost done. Almost done. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There isn't a better way, I'm sorry." I rambled because I didn't know what else to do.
And finally, mercifully, a minute later she stopped screaming. I looked up to find Queen Administrator standing on the floor nearby.
"Is that it? Will she be alright?" I asked.
"Affirmative. Procedure complete. We will attempt to restore her physical body to its baseline. Then proceed with assimilation of her partnered shard. Base ability is interesting and may be retained after adjustments to make it viable depending on power requirements."
"Ok, ok that's good." Probably. I didn't really care about things on the shard end right now. But the fact they were going to try and get her physically back to normal sounded like a good start.
"Who the hell are you?!" The probably a drug dealer shouted, making me jump. Turning to look, he was back on his feet and waving a knife.
I opened my mouth, closed it, thought about my answer, and sighed.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm a magical girl." I waved him off. "Pretty sure I should throw you to the police, but I'll give you one chance to leave."
"What the fuck?" He gaped. "Screw you!"
In the time it took for him to push off into a lunge from his absolutely terrible stance, how the heck do I know his stance is terrible?!, I drew a gun and aimed.
"Impact!" I shouted. The gem in my chest chimed. There wasn't a trigger, the guns were really only a prop for this and pulling a trigger and recoil could foul my aim. The gun fired when I wanted it to. When it was aimed at my target.
The first blur of purple light hit him between his legs, even a promise to myself was a promise worth keeping! The second hit him in the gut, the third in the chest and the last one took him square in the nose breaking it and knocking him backwards head over heels.
He decided to just lay there groaning in pain.
… I really should not be that good with a weapon I'd never used before. Also, pretty sure a competitive quick draw would have been green with envy over what I just pulled in terms of speed and accuracy. Just how much had been baked into the so called basic package?
"Right… definitely not safe to just leave you here like this." I was speaking as much to the girl as I was to myself. Lifting her in a bridal carry was as easy as slipping on a full backpack.
Add enhanced strength to the list, though definitely not in the fist fight Alexandria range.
I kept the girl with me for lack of any better options as I made my way back out to the street where once again my complete lack of first aid or rescue training of any kind made me feel like a complete idiot.
"Queen Administrator, do you have a way to call the PRT?"
The owl who had been floating along silently landed on my shoulder before answering.
"Negative. Human radio and cellular data transmissions are more than adequate for general communication purposes. Expenditure of shard energy to replicate functions of mass produced technology deemed unnecessary."
"I don't have a cellphone, or radio." I stated carefully. Telling the thing that could destroy the world that it is wrong seemed like a bad idea and it was a reasonable decision from her point of view.
"This is an oversight on Hosts part. Recommend you acquire a communication device before going out again." The owl answered flatly.
I closed my eyes, counted to ten, and decided it wasn't worth arguing about this. It really was reasonable given just how many tricks were worked into my powers already.
Everyone on the street was giving me a wide berth and I couldn't just leave the poor girl, and flying off with her even to bring her to the hospital or PRT would probably be taken poorly…
Sighing I plopped myself down on a stoop and settled the girl so she would be leaning on my shoulder. Waiting was probably the best choice right now.
Five minutes later when a red blur raced in front of me and dropped a can that exploded into yellow grey foam sticking my feet together. Only for the blur to reappear about ten feet in front of me to reveal Velocity. All I could do was sigh and reach up to pinch the bridge of my nose.
Of course the mask got in the way of that. And honestly, I wasn't even that upset because apparently my forcefield kept this crap from bonding to my skin or costume though there was enough of it, and the field wasn't that far from my skin, so my feet were in fact bound together. Of course it wasn't just me caught in this goop.
"You know if you actually think I'm a villain, binding my feet with a random girl's seems like a really poor choice." I voiced the obvious.
Velocity flushed red. But I wasn't done, polite and professional is not going to be another way to say doormat. Just have to keep my tone calm and level.
"Also, I can fly." I continued. "I could just fly away bound feet or not if…" pulling up the containment foam broke off from the concrete with minimal resistance, "yeah, stuff's not exactly glue just takes away leverage. And since you connected me to her," I pointed at the girl I'd come here to help, "if I chose to fly off like this, I'd be taking her with me."
His shoulders hunched like a scolded child.
"Seriously, I'm just sitting here being used as a pillow by this poor thing who's had a truly horrible day, and your first thought was to restrain me without even asking any questions. I'm actually offended. Not really surprised, but offended." I continued because quite frankly even if I want to cling to the whole quiet professional mask this really was a terrible first impression and I was very reasonably angry about it.
"Ok, I admit this really isn't the best introduction, but we got multiple calls about vanishing buildings and cars then ten minutes later everything is back and you show up carrying around a girl who looks like she got on the wrong end of a biotinker." He shrugged. "I don't know what's going on, but honestly this looks really bad. And nonviolent containment is a pretty measured response after a major incident."
I took a deep breath and bit down on my first few responses. I needed to be my mask.
"I flew here because I got an early warning. I wasn't even planning to go out for more than a test flight and maybe a chance to test these," I gestured at my holstered guns, "on the boat graveyard, not after the news talking up what happened last night. If I promise not to go anywhere and answer your questions, will you allow me to cut this off of my feet? I really hate being confined or restrained." This wasn't really that bad, but it was setting me on edge which I did not need when trying to make a good impression.
Velocity opened his mouth but I'd never know what he intended to say because that's when the noise of a motorcycle being pushed hard started to grow rapidly. Not twenty seconds later Armsmaster whipped around a corner going a lot faster than the speed limit. Very quickly he braked hard to come to a stop close to Velocity.
"Unknown Parahuman. You are under arrest for suspected use of a large scale master or stranger effect and assault with a biotinker power, surrender immediately." Armsmaster snapped out while dismounting his bike and brandishing his halberd.
Velocity looked at him like he was stupid. I took a moment to stare at him like I was seeing a new species of idiot then slapped a hand to my face.
I very pointedly ignored Armsmaster and turned back to Velocity.
"I take back what I said." I offered seriously. "I'll leave the foam alone if you tell him to go away and promise to actually talk to me like a person instead of just assuming I'm a criminal without evidence." I'd gladly leave my feet bound if it meant I didn't need to deal with whatever the hell this was.
Velocity poorly covered a laugh with a cough.
Armsmaster scowled, probably glared, but with the visor I couldn't see his eyes.
I held up a hand took one more deep breath and tried again.
"I apologize, that was rude of me, but I've had a rough couple of days and this," I gestured at my foamed legs and Armsmaster "has been a very poor response to someone sitting by the side of the road waiting for you to arrive."
Never mind the year and a half leading up to this point. Last night was a trainwreck and this should have been my triumphant first showing, but between the nature of the girl's power and whatever the hell this blame game nonsense was, I was finding it very difficult to cling to my role. Seriously how the hell does Mouse Protector go around being so cheesy all the time.
"Furthermore, the only reason I am sitting here is that I have no idea how to safely assist with the handful of car accident victims in the area without potentially making things worse. You are not untrained teenagers and should be helping them!"
Cold, have to keep the anger cold. Stay in character and get these idiots moving.
Velocity waved his hands in denial.
"Ok, ok I get how this must look bad from your perspective." The speedster said. "But you have to understand, this is ground zero for a major incident, and no one knows anything about you. EMS is being held back until we can confirm the area is safe, and that means we need to get a handle on you before they can help anyone."
Which made sense. It was dumb. But the kind of dumb that probably kept people alive in different circumstances.
"Fine. So long as it gets these people the help they need faster. I'm willing to cooperate." I would not be responsible for someone losing family to a car accident. "Now can I cut this crap so we can get moving or are you going to continue to be unreasonable."
Armsaster was still scowling but at least he wasn't pointing a weapon at me anymore.
"Lay your weapons on the ground." The dick in power armor demanded. "You will be cuffed for transport. Use of your powers will be considered hostile action and I will respond with force." Aaand then he started reading me my rights.
Thoroughly done with this shit, but not willing to delay medical help for the injured I slowly pulled out my guns and knives and tossed them on the ground. All while staring flatly at the pair of heroes.
"By all means. Be my guest." I offered, gesturing to my weapons.
Now they stared at them like they were live grenades.
"Oh for the love of, return." I snapped and at that order my weapons were back in their places strapped to my costume.
"I am trying to be cooperative here because the victims are more important than whatever this idiocy is about." I said fighting not to raise my voice. "But you are testing the limits of my patience and seconds could matter here. If breaking out of this foam and flying away will get the ambulances here faster I will do so. Stop wasting time!"
Velocity put a finger to his ear.
"Console we've got the suspected cape and she is cooperating, but has also made it clear that will stop if we don't start helping the victims. Give EMS the all clear and send us the wagon. And maybe get something organized to sweep the affected buildings. There could be other accidents like falling down stairs or someone getting knocked out while cooking. We need to start checking on people."
Armsmaster ground his teeth, but didn't contradict Velocity.
I nodded, crossed my arms and settled into my role to keep from cursing up a storm or panicking at yet another example of people in charge trying to fuck me over. I'd done nothing wrong and they certainly didn't have the proof to pin anything on me. And if they tried to blame me anyway? I was going to blast my way out of the rig and then sink it to the bottom of the bay because at some point all there was left to do is say enough.
- Location
- The Milky Way Galaxy, Presumably
First thing that comes to mind
Edit:
Well, after actually reading the snippet. It's probaly closer to
Magical Mystical Taylor-chan!
(Teehee~ I'm going to hurl!)
Edit:
Well, after actually reading the snippet. It's probaly closer to
Mystical Magical Mystical Taylor-chan!
(If you don't start acting sensibly so HELP ME I'LL-)
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verycoolname
Not actually cool
The encounter with Velocity and Armsmaster was perfect.
Miho Chan
One with too many ideas
- Location
- Hummelstown
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This is quite good. I do enjoy that Magical Girl Taylor being very much decidedly an edgelord (in terms of appearance) is entirely in character for TayTay
But her comments about pink and ruffles are utterly unwarranted! How dare she!
But her comments about pink and ruffles are utterly unwarranted! How dare she!
- Pronouns
- Mrpinkfrosteddonut
Is it the black and purple? It's the black and purple, isn't it? You PR brainwashed colour-nazis.
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
She's the obvious cape on site after a major master stranger incident and Aisha looks like the bad end of a very mild Bonesaw encounter. They're making incorrect assumptions but they have a reason. Kind of.
- Location
- Elsewhere
I'm pretty sure they are just as cheesy in Japanese.
Arkos
Sleepy Queen of Destruction
- Location
- The Future.
- Pronouns
- She/her
If she's going to do the dark magical girl color scheme, she needs to do her outfit *properly* too. Not this half assing of it. V:
Yeah but with broken triggers being a Thing now, and a Thing that happens to be traumatizing to everyone in the area. They SHOULD be used to new capes popping up when BTs occur beyond the trigger themself. Then again super cops are cops soooo /shrug
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JVR
Contessa's #1 Fangirl
- Location
- Cauldron Compound
They're obviously going to try to forcibly out her, cook up some bullshit charges, and then threaten her with life in prison if she doesn't immediately sign up for the Wards (under a Probationary Agreement, of course).
Fuck this shit. Bust out, fly off, and go tell PHO what happened. Let them get roasted online.
Fuck this shit. Bust out, fly off, and go tell PHO what happened. Let them get roasted online.
This idea continues to be glorious, Taylor was always eant to be a magical girl.
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So couple of things Taylor was first on the scene and at that point the only witness. Other two possible witnesses are Aisha's Mom who is currently high of her ass and one knocked out drug dealer.
Taylor showed upon the scene in what looks like a professional costume like she's an old hand or has been prepping for this. it should be obvious she's not being threatening but everything about this is weird.
Kinda sorta. I've seen more than a few fics that go the route of scion's dead endbringers have stopped everything's basically the same or better because momentum. Kind of figure even if only a few big names and the cauldron resources fall through things should still get worse because cauldron assets include some of the heaviest hitters and broken triggers are no joke. My ideas in that direction are vague as hell though but the idea that the heroes are a desperate for recruits? I kind of really like that.
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- Location
- United States
Before reading the chapter and just remembering previous discussion, At Least It Isn't Glitter.
After reading both chapters, On Wings of Hope.
verycoolname
Not actually cool
I'm not sure how it would work in this fic, but I kinda like the idea that the heroes are desperate for recruits and achievements while PRT is more reasonable. Watching Armsmaster seething while Velocity was recovering from shoving his foot in his mouth at superspeed made me want a reasonable Piggot for some reason.
Without the Endbringers and Cauldron, cape culture should be shifting rapidly. Broken Triggers are a very different threat than Endbringers, after all. How solid are the Unwritten rules? Would the PRT be treating the Protectorate the same way it had before? It's interesting to think about.
Robinton
Probably petting Schrödinger's cat
- Location
- Scientifically proving a miracle
"To summarize down a lot, I have a weird Trump power that gives me various other powers. One of those is knowing about nearby broken triggers as they happen, and being able to fix them. The fixing process is, roughly, as follows: First, halt the out-of-control power expression, stabilizing the situation. That step is done. Second, slowly repair the new parahuman's body. That should be ongoing; no idea how long it'll take; I don't need to be physically present; Panacea might be able to help but also shouldn't be necessary. Third, once that's done, repair the parahuman's powers to work, and work properly. That step isn't started yet.
"I'm guessing that, given six months or so, this girl will be a powerful (and stable) Stranger. But she's going to need some help, because I walked in to what sure looked like her being assaulted by her mother's drug-dealer.
"So, do you two want to convince me that the heroes are actually decent people and I shouldn't be taking her in just to save her from the likes of, um, Armsmaster? (Not on the list of things I ever wanted to have to ask what is this day really ugh.)"
"I'm guessing that, given six months or so, this girl will be a powerful (and stable) Stranger. But she's going to need some help, because I walked in to what sure looked like her being assaulted by her mother's drug-dealer.
"So, do you two want to convince me that the heroes are actually decent people and I shouldn't be taking her in just to save her from the likes of, um, Armsmaster? (Not on the list of things I ever wanted to have to ask what is this day really ugh.)"
lots
colored
semicolon
- Location
- United States
There are a few things to consider that would effect the PRT and Protectorate.
The public clearly knows the Endbringer are gone since Taylor asked if they were coming back, but how long ago did Scion and the Endbringer die, and does the public / government know they are dead or just stopped showing up?
If they just stopped showing up then the importance and necessity of capes will go down very slowly and semi organically as money is slowly pulled away to other government budgets. Broken triggers will eventually become a rallying flag for the PRT saying their budget is still critical and can't be cut.
If it's public knowledge that the Endbringers are all dead then a lot of things change very quickly. The budget is much more vulnerable to being cut. Since there is less money to pay heros there will be competition to show they are more valuable and important to keep compared to other less performing heros. In parallel, with the Endbringer Truce no longer needed, kid gloves and sweetheart deals to flip villains are out of the window, either they sign a draconian contract or they go straight to prison. In this situation broken triggers are a rally point for the Protectorate to show they are still needed and a way to boost their numbers.
In regards to Cauldron, the PRT was mostly Rebecca's pet project, Dr. Mother and Contessa really didn't care. David was in it as a way to get fame and be important, Paul was the only one who cared about what being a hero meant. If they know for certain that Scion and the Endbringers are gone I could see Paul retiring to be with his husband while Rebecca and David try and shore up their failing castles. If that improves things compared to what would happen if they were dead depends on what actions they decided were needed to stay relevant.
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JVR
Contessa's #1 Fangirl
- Location
- Cauldron Compound
And that's a two-way street. If the "heroes" have taken off the kid gloves, then so should everyone else. If they're not going to be reasonable, Taylor should stop trying to reason with them and just bust out and take off. If the PRT is openly acting malevolent (and so far they are here) she needs to treat them like the villains they are. Do not cooperate! They clearly want to drag her back to their HQ in chains, rip her mask off, and then enslave her as fast as possible under the nastiest contract possible. For life.
They're the bad guys here. Treat them as such.
- Location
- United States
Yes but she is a teenager. She still believes the propaganda that authority should be good and right. At this point she expects any authority to wrong and terrible but she thinks that's a failure of them living up to the system, not built into the system itself.
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
XD I find that in all things there are outliers and a middle ground. Now where exactly the majority land is no necessarily that ideal middle but only when everything has gone completely to hell is the majority on the evil end of the spectrum.
If the protectorate lost, say, Eidolon an Alexandria, the cartels can push farther and harder. If alexandria is gone then the PRT are under new management which tosses a lot up into the air and means that the biggest single obstacle to the Elite is taken off the board. That means more people being assigned to the south and west.
If cauldron is destroyed number man is gone which makes banking easier to track and means any organization that used his services is scrambling to find accountants half as good at hiding transactions. It also means no more relatively stable vial capes propping up the protectorate even while it means no more gray boys and mama mathers being unleashed being unleashed due to stupidity. Without the EB sort of forcing everyone to stockpile resources for the worst case scenario war between nations becomes something a bit more likely which makes capes not being allowed in the military something worth fighting over even if a cape boot camp would end worse than full metal jacket.
I want things to be getting worse. I want armsmasters reaction to be driven by a lot of variables and for them to push even without the legal pressure to actually pressgang people yet if they don't fall for intimidation tactics. But the whole concept is nebulous right now. Haven't refined any of it. If I want to keep going with this one I need to slow down and figure that aspect out before I leap in. Which is not entirely new but is uncommon given how character driven my writing usually is. So I'd better take my time and really think on this one.
- Location
- That place over there.
- Pronouns
- He/Them
I never read the original Girl Genius fusion but I really liked this one, can't wait for more!
Yeah the battle of Mechanicsburg is a clusterfuck and all the new factions are just fire and forget ones used to show how chaotic everything is and how sparks react to such things. It's one of the things the comic conveys way better than the books.
Yeah the battle of Mechanicsburg is a clusterfuck and all the new factions are just fire and forget ones used to show how chaotic everything is and how sparks react to such things. It's one of the things the comic conveys way better than the books.